Exponential Growth and the U.S. Debt

A brief description of a hands-on activity that allows students to determine if the U.S. National Debt is growing exponentially.   Includes a short video about the debt and link explaining how to calculate doubling time.  Should be paired with instruction on regression/curve fitting with a calculator or CAS such as http://download.intel.com/education/Common/en/Resources/DEP/track/track_worksheet.doc. Students can interpret results of mathematical modeling to answer questions, and determine the accuracy and reliability of a model.

Lesson Variations

Blooms taxonomy level: 
Understanding

References

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